Articles

Bloggers Delight @ Oxford Art Factory18/09/2008

There is very little doubt that Who The Effing Hell are pretty much THE kings of the Southern Blogosphere. I say that without any promises of cash payments and/or handjobs as well - BUT deal out that praise because the 'team' continually offer up great support for a whole load of awesome local acts. There are very few pies 'baked' in and around Australia that Jerry Soer and Co don't have the fingers in.

So when they recently decided to put their pie fingering skills to good use and start to organise 'events' that people could 'attend' in the 'physical' world - I was more than a little bit excited. This was a great chance for the internetzz and reality to collide in a molten ball of praise for local music AND a fantastic opportunity for a whole bunch of fine bands to break out of the confines of cyberspace and get some 'real' attention.

The line-up for their first show last Thursday didn't jump out at me BUT the price tag (FREE!) was more than enough to get me off the couch and venture down to Oxford Street.

I got inside just in time to catch a power-pop (punkish) band finish up their set. Their music was about 4 degrees away from the kind of 'rock' bands that I sometimes see on Video Hits on a Saturday morning when I am waiting for them to play some sort of cool retro shit like Guns N Roses' 11 minute November Rain clip. I am sorry but I have no idea who they were. Let's say (for FUN's sake) they were called Seven Doors From Falling Sideways.

Ernest Ellis were next up and, although they didn't throttle my insides and cause me to have multiple orgasms, they were inoffensively enjoyable. They informed the crowd early on that it was their first show EVER and (considering that fact) they did a pretty damn good job in front of the large-ish early bird crowd.

Philadelphia Grand Jury took to the stage for the tough middle slot and delivered an impressive set of instantly catchy up-beat tunes. They walked the thinnish (not Finish) line between melodic pop and nerd rock (maybe it was just the glasses) with occasional flashes of brilliance scattered throughout their forty minute set.

One of the most enjoyment elements of the trio's performance was the fact they had pre-recorded all of their 'in-between song banter'. Nerdy yet awesome. Not as awesome as the 'party machine guy' who had an LED belt that read 'I AM A TOOL' - but still pretty awesome.

Philadelphia Grand Jury ended their set with a fantastic destruction of the stage and their equipment which, as you can see in the graph below, dramatically increased my overall enjoyment of their performance. I am a sucker for any sort of violent activity. Simpleton.

Side note: on the flyer that I had seen or been given by someone Songs were listed as playing BUT on the night (unless they played at 4pm and I missed them) they were nowhere to be seen. Sad stuff indeed. I love their EP but still haven't had a catch them live.

Just before I was about to head back into the main room to catch the headline set from Bird Automatic I was distracted by some beautiful noise coming from the smaller bar. With a beckoning 'come on yer little fucker' from some guy I investigated a little further and discovered a gang of youngsters throwing themselves amongst a crowd of people while serving up some incredibly infectious dark sounds. They were moody, a little scary and fucking brilliant. I discovered later that they are a new(ish) local band called The Nevada Strange. Expect to hear a lot more gushing praise of them around these parts over the next few hours/days/years.

Their performance wasn't (technically) part of the Bloggers Delight line-up. They were one of the musical acts on the bill for the regular art/music/performance night Exquisite Corpse which happens every Thursday in the venue's smaller side bar.

Even though the highlight of my night was the performance of a band not on the main bill - I still highly enjoyed the night that the Who The Hell peeps had organised. It was great to catch up with a whole load of lovely folks that I either don't see enough of or were meeting for the very first time in 'the physical world'. Hopefully, this becomes a regular event.

Comments

Sean

Jonny Yes Yes

i don't think you were listening though.. you were distracted by 'some guy'..

6 years ago

Sean

you did indeed describe it. and i was listening. and in awe of LED Man.

6 years ago

kidalias

Nice lineup?

6 years ago

flukazoid

what the hell?

ok, in-thread spam is NOT on

6 years ago

kidalias

No! I was pointing out Atrocities & Nevada Strange... and I put it here because of the gushing over Nevada Strange.

*pouts*

I can remove it if you want.

Pointing out that I saw some photos from the aforementioned Exquisite Corpse here.

6 years ago

flukazoid

oh.. sorry... bit subtle for my tuesday night it would seem

I'm not the one setting thread policy on gratuitous pluggage, I'll leave that to Jonny

6 years ago

Jonny Yes Yes

joe is fiery.. like fire..

looks good kim.. but i was thinking of heading to the damnbuilders show in marrickville.. which nevada strange were supposed to be playing at too.. not sure if they are playing both or ditching the builders for the arms... anyone know?

6 years ago

zombiesonbroadway

ash and jules from mercy arms are in nevada strange

6 years ago

kidalias

Posted By: zombiesonbroadwayash and jules from mercy arms are in nevada strange

If that's the case then I suppose it's their farewell gig too for a little while.

6 years ago

flukazoid

yeah, not sure what was up with me last night, must have been the spicy thai I had or something.

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